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rando

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As many of you know the DOI has been tasked with 'reviewing' 27 National Monuments that were created in the last 20 years. The intent of this 'review' is clear - to reduce in size or all together eliminate many of these monuments. However there is a public comment period - and I strongly encourage anyone who feels strongly about our public lands and natural heritage to make their feelings known through well reasoned, constructive and polite comments at:
https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=DOI-2017-0002-0001

The official comment period opens tomorrow, May 12, but it seems that comments are already being accepted. Comments specific to Bears Ears NM close May 26th and for the other NM July 10th. Please make sure the voice of those who use and love these lands is heard. For reference the following national monuments are being 'reviewed':


Basin and Range, Nevada, 703,585 acres, designated 2015.
• Bears Ears, Utah, 1,353,000 acres, designated 2016.
• Berryessa Snow Mountain, California, 330,780 acres, designated 2015.
• Canyons of the Ancients, Colorado, 175,160 acres, designated 2000.
• Carrizo Plain, California, 204,107 acres, designated 2001.
• Cascade Siskiyou, Oregon, 100,000 acres, designated 2000/2007.
• Craters of the Moon, Idaho, 737,525 acres, designated 1924/2000.
• Giant Sequoia, California, 327,760 acres, designated 2000.
• Gold Butte, Nevada, 296,937 acres, designated 2016.
• Grand Canyon-Parashant, Arizona, 1,014,000 acres, designated 2000.
• Grand Staircase-Escalante, Utah, 1,700,000 acres, designated 1996.
• Hanford Reach, Washington, 194,450.93 acres, designated 2000.
• Ironwood Forest, Arizona, 128,917 acres, designated 2000.
• Katahadin Woods and Waters, Maine, 87,563 acres, designated 2016.
• Marianas Trench, CNMI/Pacific Ocean 60,938,240, designated 2009.
• Mojave Trails, California, 1,600,000 acres, designated 2016.
• Northeast Canyons and Seamounts, Atlantic Ocean, 3,114,320 acres, designated 2016.
• Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks, New Mexico, 496,330 acres, designated 2014.
• Pacific Remote Islands, Pacific Ocean, 55,608,320 acres, designated 2009.
• Papahanaumokuakea, Hawaii/Pacific Ocean, 89,600,000 acres, designated 2006/2016.
• Rio Grande del Norte, New Mexico, 242,555 acres, designated 2013.
• Rose Atoll, American Samoa/Pacific Ocean, 8,609,045 acres, designated 2009.
• Sand to Snow, California, 154,000 acres, designated 2014.
• San Gabriel Mountains, California, 346,177 acres, designated 2014.
• Sonoran Desert, Arizona, 486,149 acres, designated 2001.
• Upper Missouri River Breaks, Montana, 377,346 acres, designated 2001.
• Vermilion Cliffs, Arizona, 279,568 acres, designated 2000.
 
Also, please share this information far and wide, the more comments received from a diverse group of users, the better.
 
"I strongly express that ALL national monuments should NOT be reviewed. As a “stakeholder” (read as a tax payer and voter) I have NO problem with my government that previously set aside these areas. I do NOT want any development, drilling, mining, commercializing, etc of any kind now or forever."

Mike
 
Thanks guys. Keep the comments going to:
https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=DOI-2017-0002-0001

Reading through the 800 or so comments already submitted, it is clear that the public is overwhelmingly in favor of keeping these monuments as they are. However the louder and clearer the message, the harder it is for the administration to go against the will of the people (I hope).
 
Of course Canadians matter!

It certainly can't hurt to comment about the economic benefit these monuments have brought to the country and to the surrounding communities through your visits.
 
Thank you for this notice. I rewrote it and sent it out to 60 people who I know will let their voices be heard.
 
Thanks Buckland! It is really heartening to read through the comments posted so far and see the raw passion for our public lands.
 
I spent the last week out in Bears Ears NM, hiking Comb Ridge, Grand Gulch, Road Canyon, Salt Creek and a few other places. The beauty of this area is awesome, and the density of native american ruins is phenomenal. You can't walk a mile in any of the canyons in this area without seeing a granary, cliff dwelling, kiva or pictograph of some sort. The dispersed camping is fantastic, and in general this land is in great condition - few pointless spur roads very little trash. It was very heartening to see all the support for Bears Ears NM in the trail registers and even in the surrounding towns.
 
The comment period for Bears Ears National Monument closes today - so if you are considering speaking up, now would be the time!
 
A number of us Eastern folk who love our National Monuments (as we also have a gem in Maine...just set up this last year and now is threatened) have been on a whirlwind call out to folks we know... preaching to the choir but some need reminders of what we have before it is taken away.... Thanks to all who have tried. I think a lot of people gave them an "ear full". If they go the other way I am afraid it is only due to money politics....it is beyond short sightedness ... just plain dumb.

It is hard being hopeful as I watch chaos created by unprepared/uneducated appointed cronies wielding their newfound powers.
 
Just wondering-what type of response did you guys get from your phone calls, emails, letters, etc??? Me, one so far. I got a sort of form letter from ,my congressman GOP-Calif (who is on the public lands committee) with what seemed like a,cut and paste GOP argument in favor of the pol's in Utah idea getting rid of all NM's because of the pres not working with and ignoring the locals, etc, and by the way we probably should get rid of public land too! Boy I really had to prove I lived in his district before he let me send him an email-quite a process too! Maybe that assessment is unfair, since at least he wrote back. Despite my best retired BLM employee and as a fellow vet requesting "his support in this matter and I know he will do the right thing, ----and if I can be of any help, etc, etc", no word yet from my email, phone call and letter to the Sec of Interior (of course my pension check is due on the first-I hope and I actually thought about that when doing these responses :eek: !!). I'm not counting the form letter type petitions I've signed , just the individual ones. Anyway, what type of responses did you guys get?

Smoke
 
Smokecreek1 said:
Boy I really had to prove I lived in his district before he let me send him an email-quite a process too! Maybe that assessment is unfair, since at least he wrote back.
Smoke
Click to expand...
Don't feel too bullied by that. My representative, a Democrat, requires Zipcode+4 to verify that I'm in her district. It may be a common practice. I usually visualize letters hitting the round file, and emails hitting the Bit Bucket. ;)

Paul
 
Thanks Paul-had to look up that number too! And since I checked the box on his web page he just today sent me his news letter. My congressman, Tom McClintock is head of the Public Lands Com. and just held a hearing on possible and future changes to the Antiquity Act to prevent that federal land grab of all those resources. Anyway, it might be worth the effort to go on his web site and see his statement. I think the key word here is future and if I could figure out how to transfer it to this site I would. I'm an archaeologist and his statement is not as bad as many other anti-antiquity act ones I've seen over the years. Maybe he got enough negative comments (including at a open meeting a while back) to tone down his outrage, but again any progress is good progress right now. Since he runs an important com., it is probably worth watching his web site because this is really where any action against the act/NM's will start. Democracy in action! Need to read the rest of the news letter!

Smoke
 
History is personal........................

Real people worked hard and struggled to get our conservation laws in place. These cornerstone acts are under threat, a possibility, in years past, we would not have considered possible.

Congressman John Lacey from Iowa was a contemporary of Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot and played a pivotal role in what we can call the first environmental legislation passed by congress and signed by the President. He also wrote and enabled the passage of The Antiquities Act.

A friend of mine is John Lacey's great grandson. In 1991, he, his son, and his son's son traveled to Iowa to represent the family at the 150th anniversary of John Lacey's birth.

My friend retired after a stellar career in California's Department of Fish & Game, heavily influenced by his family's legacy. He led the Department's team on negotiations for protections of the Truckee River and the Mono Lake Basin.

John Lacey served as a Major in the Civil War in the Iowa Infantry. My great grandfather was a private in the Iowa Infantry.

History was real people. History is personal. Real people work hard to protect, preserve, conserve our wild places and public lands.

I remain optimistic, but work hard to speak up when needed.

Voices are needed now.
 
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